Save Me
by Landerin
Summary: Putting a life back together after the cylon attack is inturupted by attacking prisoners, and various trips to the sickbay.


Save Me

**Authors Note**: I've liked Cally since the mini, I can relate with her, being one of the only girls in a mostly male setting. So I got this idea before we learned more about her past… so here we go.

**Rating**: K+ minor swearing

**Another Note**: Yep, it's redone!!!! Hope it's a bit better.

* * *

I, Crewman Specialist Cally Henderson, was utterly bored. It was hard enough to be one of the younger kids on the hangar deck, but having a rape attempted on me, along with a gut-shot, didn't help the fact that the men on the deck liked to baby me. 

I had just been returned to light duty from being confined to the suffocating med bay. My side ached annoyingly every now and then, even with the low powered pain drugs I had to take.

So, in my boredom, I had taken to spinning in circles on Chief's desk chair.

When Chief seemed slightly annoyed by my childish antics, I smiled at him, reminding him of my younger age.

"Cally, stop that, I don't want you losing your lunch on my deck." I halted the spin and stuck my tongue out at him. The crew that was in visual range chuckled slightly.

"Hey Cally, would you stop dizzying yourself and bring me a print of an electrical system?" Socinus called to me.

I nodded in his direction as I stopped spinning. I grabbed the prints from the desk behind me and used the table to stand up. I took a shaky step, prematurely trying to push the dizziness away.

A combination of the incessant spinning and the pain drugs made me pitch over to the side, although someone grabbed me behind my elbows, providing a strong support.

I looked up and found myself staring into two very blue eyes. My face grew hot as Captain Lee Adama pushed me back onto my feet and smiled.

"Be careful there Specialist, we don't want to lose you would we?"

I handed the prints to Socinus, my hand subconsciously sitting just below my ribs he grabbed my behind my elbow, just as Captain Adama had the moment before, "You alright Cal?"

I nodded at my best friend, smiling, "Yeah, just combination of the drugs and spinning."

The younger man smiled back.

I glanced over at the Captain, who was talking with the Chief and smiled to myself. I had to admit that I had a slight flare of affection toward him, although extinguished once the Cylons attacked. It had been rekindled as he put pressure on the gunshot wound in the Astral Queen.

The man saved my life, what do you expect?

I sat back down on the chair and sighed softly. The curses of the military, relationships usually banned, even though the Chief and Boomer kept one going.

I watched Chief and the Captain talking about his Viper, one that had been giving us many problems for the last few days. Everyone had a different theory on what was malfunctioning, the gimble, fuel lines, main power. Truthfully, I hadn't gotten my hand on anything in the ship, so I had no idea what was going on in there.

"Hey Cally!"

I was shaken out of my thoughts as Chief called over to me.

"Can you come here for a few? Think I've got an idea."

I slowly walked over to the two men, ignoring both looks of sympathy.

I balanced my weight on one leg as Chief explained his idea.

He suspected that there was a blockage in the fuel lines, or at least a constriction, that was causing the ship to malfunction.

"Like clamping off an artery in a human brain would make the rest of the body shut down," The Captain added, a flash of annoyance flashed over Chief's features as the man questioned his crew's intellect, even with such a harmless comment.

"So where do you think the block is?" I asked switching my weight over to the other leg.

"Under the main gunnery, we have to in through the bottom deck."

"Should I take a look?" I pulled a creeper over with my foot. Chief looked nervous, "Cally, you're on light duty, no heavy-"

I cut him off, "Yes Chief, I know, no heavy lifting, no other and sudden movements that could tear my stitches."

I immediately regretted snapping at him, "Sorry, sir."

Chief shook his head, choosing to ignore my slight show of insubordination.

Captain Adama came to my rescue, "Chief, she is the best mechanic on this deck, you or I could loosen the panels and she could take a look? Move things around?"

I saw Chief's jaw tighten as the Captain made the suggestion, finally nodding a fraction.

"All right. Hey Socinus! Get your lazy ass over here!"

The kid skidded to a halt in front of his deck chief, "Yes sir?"

Chief handed him a wrench, "Remove bottom paneling from around the fuel lines, keep an eye on Cally and then get back to work."

Socinus looked at Chief's retreating back and shook his head, "Alright then," he turned back to me, leaning against the nearest wall.

"Are you sure you're up to this?

I shrugged, "If I'm not, I wouldn't be doing it."

It was enough for Socinus. He ducked down under the ship and pulled apart the paneling and moved most of wiring out of the way.

I felt myself become annoyed, even at the small show of protection, I wasn't helpless. Doc Cottle knew damn well that I wouldn't stay away from the birds, if I couldn't, he would've kept me in med bay. He had known that since I came on the ship. After small accidents that I should've stayed on light duty, I assumed full duty again with only very minor consequences.

"Thanks,"

Socinus helped me lower myself onto the creeper he had just stood from. I grumbled at myself for the show of weakness.

That was the thing, on the hangar deck, being one of the only females, was hard. Sure, some of them were like brothers, replacing the ones I lost. But there were the other guys, the ones that if you showed a bit of weakness, turned it on you and wouldn't leave you alone for weeks on it.

I used my legs to push myself under the low plane and moved the many colored wires around to get to the blocked line.

"I see it Chief, and there's the block. Will someone drain the rest of the fuel? There's still some in here."

"Got it," Socinus's voice called from above me.

"Thank you."

I slowly pulled clippers from my belt and reached into the fray of wires.

"Hey chief, we don't happen to have any extra line do we? This one is," I paused, "in knots?"

'Odd,' I thought to myself.

"No, just shorten it around the bulge and we'll improvise with a patch Cal."

I shrugged and clipped on both sides of the knot, pulling the piece out. I could smell some of the fuel, but didn't think twice.

"Hey pull me out." I yelled. Someone pulled my feet and I rolled from under the plane.

"Damn, you weren't kidding it's in knots," Chief whistled.

I stood up and the ground tilted, Socinus grabbed my arms as I pitched forward.

"Whoa, you alright?"

His face swam in front of me.

"Cally?"

"Cally?"

My vision faded to black around me.

"Cally, open your eyes." A familiar voice was driving away the smothering blackness.

"Cally!" The voice sounded more urgent, almost scared.

"That's it, call a med team."

My eyelashes fluttered and intense light met me.

I cried out and covered my eyes.

"Oh thank the Gods Cally! Don't do that again!"

I blinked a few times, attempting to clear my vision. I was lying on the ground, the entire crew gathered around me. I sat up, a wave of nausea hitting me.

"What happened?" I inquired softly, fighting off the headache I could feel coming.

"We're not sure, but we're going to sick bay, now," Chief said as he helped me to my feet.

I shook my head, "No, I'm fine, just got a bit dizzy. Overdid it you know? I'll just go lie down in my rack."

I sat down in the nearest chair. Chief squatted down to my level, "Alright, but you have to promise me that if it doesn't get better, you'll go directly to sick bay."

"Scouts honor, sir." I smiled softly.

"Socinus, take her up to rack, then get your ass back down here."

"Yessir!"

Chief grabbed his elbow and whispered something in his ear as he passed.

I lay in my bunk an hour later, blankets littering the floor below me. Sleep hadn't come easy after a dream snapped me from the quiet world of sleep.

I was running away from something, and I was afraid. My hair was down and specked with dirt and grass from the planet I was on. I had woken up as someone tackled me to the ground and gunshots echoed in the background.

I shook my head and rolled back over, I needed to sleep, or chief would have me stuck back in sickbay.

I curled up in a small ball and finally drifted back to sleep.

I woke up again as someone drapped a blanket over me. I was drenched in a cold sweat and shaking.

"Cally are you alright?" Socinus asked softly.

"Yeah, just desperately need to pee."

Soc laughed.

I slipped down the ladder andto it as the ground swayed.

"Cal...?"

I held up a hand "I'm fine, just dizzy."

He looked skeptical.

The last thing I heard before I pitched forward, hitting my head on the wall, was Socinus yelling for a medic.

My vision faded to black.

Chapter 2

Oh Gods my head hurts. I feel like someone dropped an oversized monkey wrench right between my eyes. Ow…this is gonna last awhile. I opened my eyes to a bright light shining into them.

"Gods are you trying to fraking blind me!" I cried out softly.

I heard Chief laugh. Even when I'm sick I make him laugh. "Hold still Cally," He said to me softly. I was in the sick bay, I could tell by the annoying beeping noises and the smell of anespeptic. I was so tired, my chest hurt, and my head felt like it was on fire. And I had to go to the bathroom.

Great. What else?

I looked around again; the medic was standing next to my bed with the biggest needle I had ever seen in my 21 years of living.

The Medic stepped toward me with that mammoth needle and I quickly sat up and scooted to the other side of the railed gurney. "Cally, this wont hurt."

I shook my head vigorously, "Yea, right!" The doctor took another step toward my bed and I started shaking.

Did I mention that I have a rabid fear of needles? I clamped my eyes shut as a quick wave of nausea swept over me, I managed to keep whatever little was in my stomach in.

"Cally, I'm putting this in the port on your IV," The medic said softly. I almost relaxed. ALMOST. "Oh, really? Alright," I was still nervous about that needle. The medic smiled at me, "Yes, we only use needles this big on animals."

I laughed, that was relief, but I was punished for laughing, the fire of pain in my chest re-ignited with a new fury and I cried out. Chief and the medic both took an opportunity to push me back down into a lying position. And then came the needle.

"This may sting a little…."

"HOLY FRAKING-" Chief covered my mouth smiling. "That's my girl!" he said.

Yea, sting a little, it felt like my whole fraking arm was on fire!

I suddenly felt extremely light and drowsy. Of course, I've been drugged.

Chief put his hand on my hairline, a sad smile on his face. "You're going to go have a little bit of surgery ok Cal? I think you'll be fine."

I was drifting off a little, and I nodded slightly, "Don't let them put me…" I drifted off into a slight dazed state_. 'Put me under anesthetics…' _I finished my sentence in thoughts. I was still awake, but I couldn't speak or move very well. "Alright, let's get her in there, that mild sedative is working now," I heard the medic say softly, as not to wake me up. "Good luck Cally," Galen said softly, and I fell slowly back into sleep.

'_Someone turn that alarm clock off, I'm trying to sleep.'_ I tried to roll over, but something stopped me. _'Wait a minute, that's not an alarm clock…'_ I groaned and opened my eyes. I was in what looked like the ICU of the sick bay, or the ICC, Intensive Care Curtain, as more commonly known by my friends in the launch bay. Instead of doors, it seemed that we all had curtains separating the rooms and the sections of the wing.

I blinked a few times, clearing my vision. I was exhausted. I was also wearing one of those stupid pink gowns. Oh the style, my least favorite color.

"Good, you're awake." I jumped out of my skin as someone said something very close to me. It was Lee Adama. I put my hand on my head, "Don't do that, you scared me." My voice seemed to crack as I spoke, and I wondered how long I had been asleep. He smiled, "Sorry, I thought I'd stop in and check on you, it was my fault that you're in this situation."

He looked like he felt guilty. I shook my head, "No, not your fault, I should've been thinking, or listening to my superiors. My fault." I closed my eyes for a minute, my throat hurting suddenly. Lee smiled," I'm still taking responsibility for it Cally."

I yawned. The curtain behind Lee opened and Chief stepped in. My eyelids were starting to droop. The noises were blending together, and I closed my eyes. I fell asleep.

"Cally? Cally? Time to wake up!" The voice drawing me from my comfortable dreamland sounded cheerful, too cheerful. I covered my head, "Go away." I didn't want to wake up, I was actually comfortable for the first time in days, or at least what felt like days for me. "Cally, get your fraking eyes open!" Yep, I knew that voice..

"Alright Chief! I'm awake, now let me sleep," I muttered sleepily.

"Cally, now!" this time he sounded mad.

"Fine fine…" I opened my eyes tentatively, crying out softly when the bright light of the sick bay met my eyes. Someone shoved a cup of ice into my hands. Someone sat my bed up a little, I felt my head droop to one side.

"Try to eat some ice specalist," The medic told me. I reached into the cup and brought a chunk of ice toward my mouth. I missed and it hit my nose. Laughter, Galen and Lee were behind the medic. I stuck my tongue out at them. _'You try being under this stuff, I can't find my mouth!_' I thought softly.

I tried to put another piece of ice in my mouth, only to reach it in vain, and Lee stepped forward.

"Here Cally, let me help," He said kindly. I looked at him blankly as he took my taped up hand and helped me put an ice cube in my mouth. I smiled at him and he stepped back behind the medic, shooting me a smile.

"Cally, I think I have some bad news for you," I blinked a few times in surprise as the lead medic spoke solemnly to me.

Galen cleared his throat, and the doctor continued, "Chief Tyrol informed me that you may have inhaled some of the fumes from a Viper. Usually, such fumes would not cause the level of damage to your lungs," he paused.

"We have reason to believe that someone, maybe even a Cylon agent, that put some kind of combustible poison in the fuel lines, most likely something along the lines of Arsenic or something similar mixed with something explosive. You may not survive this."

I choked on the ice cube that I finally managed to get in my mouth. Lee patted me on the back.

"What?"

I was dumbstruck, the closest I had ever gotten to dying was after I was shot on the Astral Queen.

"Yes, we need to keep you in the sick bay for a few weeks to…." I never heard the rest of what the medic was saying, for I passed out cold, dropping my cup of ice down my shirt.

How many times have I woken up like this? So far the count is 3. The annoying beeping and repulsing smells driving me over my very close edge. My chest was freezing, must have been the ice that I dropped down my shirt. I was still exhausted.

I blinked my eyes open and looked around, still in the ICU, the worst part of the entire ship. Annoying noises, annoying doctors, annoying pokes. It's just plain annoying. I wanted to go back to my rack, lie down, and read a cheesy romance novel and plot my first love.

Most of the day I lay in my bed waiting for some entertainment or someone to come bail me out of the sick bay, I was sick of the sick bay. I think that I drifted off at one point because I started to have a dream about one of the many domino effects that one choice I made affected me.

_I was lying on the cold pavement, as the world was a blur around me. There were people talking to me and calling the medics, and trying to get me to respond. My head felt as if a collapsing building was crushing it and my legs were as lose as Jell-O. I couldn't breathe and the bruises on my neck stung like fire and ice was battling in a desperate attempt to take over. _

_Someone was talking to me, telling me I was going to be all right, maybe it was the bump to my head that I had, but I felt the world moving. _

_The earth wasn't moving; someone was moving me, more specifically an EMT. More people were talking to me, someone telling me to open my eyes, another asking a by-stander if they knew what happened._

"_She's got some terrible bruises and cuts on her neck here, I can tell this arm's broken and she defiantly has a skull fracture here," Someone said as they touched my right arm and my head just behind my left ear._

_I blinked my eyes open and saw 3 men standing over me, all doing various things from using a strange pair of scissors to take my shirt from my body to placing clear plastic electrodes on my chest._

"_Someone call social services, this doesn't look good."_

"Cally!" I jerked out of my dream to see The Doctor leaning over me, with yet another giant needle. _'Great' _I thought coldly.

"What?" I asked, my words coming out short and slurred like.

"Are you feeling any pain in any part of your body?" He woke me up for THAT?

I shook my head, "No, I just want to sleep." I started to close my eyes again, but was interrupted in my attempted sleeping by a hand on my shoulder.

"I need to give you some medication that could make you quite queasy, so you're going to need to stay awake for me." I nodded and felt the doctor sit me up in bed.

"Is anyone in here?" I asked knowing that I might yell a few entertaining things out if the medication burned. The Doctor shook his head, "Nope, I'm sorry, you're stuck with me and this needle" I almost laughed, but the level of exhaustion in my system only allowed me to smile, widely I might add.

I looked away as the Doc put the needle in the port on my arm, expecting the worse; I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from crying out. To my surprise, I only felt pins and needles running up and down my arm. "Is it supposed to feel numb?" I asked softly, almost drifting back to sleep again.

"Yes it is, it'll just be for a second then it'll..." He never finished his sentence, for the dull pins and needles turned into a full out burn and I cried out.

"Now I'm feeling that pain we were just discussing," I muttered. The doctor laughed softly,

"Yes, I suspected as much, do you need some pain meds?"

I grinned, "If it includes Morphine," I said with an innocent smile. Again the doctor laughed,

"Not that happy of a happy juice, but still happy juice." He pushed yet another cup of ice in my hand. Great, this time it's not going down my shirt.

I spent the rest of my afternoon munching on ice and then having the little bit of fluid in my stomach come back out when I threw up, queasy, sure, the medication was making me even sicker, and it even hurt to throw up!

I think that I fell asleep at one point, because the next time I opened my eyes, the terrifying sight of Socinus made me nearly scream. He laughed. Soc and Chief were all I had left, after Prosna died in the fire.

"Hey Cally, how are you feeling?" He asked me putting hands on both sides of me and tilting his head so it was even with mine. I smacked his arm with one of my hands.

"Like a toaster ran me over with a raider and then pieced me back together with a toothpick," I replied putting my hand above my head.

He laughed, "Yeah, well that's probably a nice way of saying how frakked up the deck is without you, it's as boring as flight class and as dull latrine duty! Hurry up and get better, I bring messages from half of the hands that if you die, we'll all kill you!"

I actually laughed, somewhat shocking pain filing my chest, and I cried out, grabbing my chest.

"Cally?" Socinus looked at me in concern, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, "I think so, now it just hurts to breathe." My friend stood up, "I'll go get the doc." I cut him off.

"No, not him, he'll give me more medication that burned like fraking Hell!" He laughed,

"Alright, I'll just let you sleep then." He placed a kiss on my forehead and walked away.

I feebly waved back at him and closed my eyes. I had to get out of here.

I had to get out of here. Even if I was dying, I had to get out of the sick bay for at least a few minutes, I felt like I was suffocating,. I began to plot my escape between the shift changes for the control room and the deck. My only draw back was getting some clothes, or at least a pair of pants to get myself from the sick bay to my rack!

I pretended to sleep whenever someone came to visit me during that day, Tyrol, a few random deckhands, my roommates and Apollo. That surprised me, I didn't even think he noticed me usually unless he broke his ship, I was in mortal danger, or I had some madman breathing down my neck.

He talked to me for a few minutes then told me he had to go and squeezed my hand and walked away, which REALLY surprised me. Even though I was 'sleeping', he had a conversation and told me he was leaving! Wow, the only person who usually did that to me was Chief.

I spent every possible moment alone to plot how I was to get out of the sick bay; the bay's security is very lax, since no one had ever, to my knowledge, tried to escape the sick bay. I was going to disconnect myself from everything that I was on, then I was going to see if there was any pants within the vicinity, and if not, I was in trouble. I was not planning to walk around Galactica in a hospital gown.

My plan was slowly coming back into action, during the shift change, I somehow was able to reach back on the back of the terrible beeping machine and turn it off. I then took off all of the sticky clear electrodes stuck to my chest. I had a few bruises around my chest, but no surgical bandages or such, which made me wonder what surgery I had earlier.

I ran into a problem when I went for the IV in my arm, three needles were in my hand. I had to bite my bottom lip in order to keep myself from crying out at the prick if pain in my hand. 'Note to self, never do that again' I thought softly to myself after I got the needles out, and it didn't tickle.

I swung my legs over the side of my bed and slid to the floor softly. I was wearing a pair of socks with rubber on the bottom so I didn't slip as I looked around my section, just my luck, no clothes. Socinus must have known I would try and get out. But the lack of pants would not stop me from getting away from the sick bay for a bit. I knew that I would be back here soon, but just getting back into Galactica for even a few minutes would help. Even if I was in a pink gown. I had to get clothes from my rack.

My legs were almost like jelly as I took a step, the consequence of being in a bed for a while, and I suddenly realized I didn't know how long I had been in Sick Bay. I was going to have to take all the back routes in the ship to get to my rack, the ones that very few of the staff knew well. But there was a downside, if I passed out or something, I would be in trouble.

I slipped behind a nurse attending to a clumsy civilian that was touring Galactica and took a fall down the steep stairs, and then slipped out the door. Luckily no one was in the corridor as I snuck toward the door leading to one of the more uninhabited decks.

I managed to get to my rack without much more than a double take and a few scares of being caught. I wore my hair down around my face, not many on Galactica could say that they saw me with my hair down, one because of my job, and two, I was used to it being up.

It was late at night, so most of the deck was snoring in their racks as I slipped in and over to my locker. Quickly opening it, I grabbed my tank and a pair of sweat pants. I slipped into my boots and left my hair around my face, if I had even made it this far, I didn't want to risk being caught.

One of my roommates suddenly sat up in their rack, and I tried to sink into the shadows.

"Cally?" She said sleepily.

I didn't say a word, I held my breath. It made my chest ache, not breathing for what seemed like hours. And then she lay back down, I let my long held breath out. I was safe again. I was planning on taking a walk around Galactica, and then coming back to my rack and relaxing, or possibly even going to another ship, but I would go back to Sick bay at some point.

I walked out of my rack as a large group of officers passed me on the way to the mess hall, not giving me a second glance.

"Specialist?" I jumped as I heard Starbuck walking down the hall behind me.

I turned around and saw her looking at me with a slight bit of concern.

"Yes Sir?"

She shook her head, "I'm off duty, so it's Starbuck or Kara, whatever you're comfortable with."

I smiled, "Ok, Yes Starbuck?" I added weakly.

"I thought you were in sick bay, and what'd with your hair?"

I almost laughed, "Just got out and can't find a hair tie," I came up with quickly. I was never good at lying.

She looked at me suspiciously, "Alright, get going, you should rest," I turned around to walk away and felt Starbuck's boot on my back as she pushed a little. I laughed, forgetting that it would hurt.

As I was going around a corner, just my luck, I ran into Apollo. "Hi sir, Bye sir," I said and took the nearest door away from that hallway.

"Was that Cally?"

"Yeah Lee Why?

"Frak"

And then footsteps were behind me. "Lee?" I would have laughed at Starbuck's reaction but I had to get as far away from that hallway as I could. In the year that I had been on Galactica, I had learned the tunnels and decks of the ship like the back of my hand. But that wasn't in the dark.

"Cally!" Lee was closing in on me; I picked up a little speed ignoring the warning twinge in my chest and stomach. I slipped into one of the supply rooms and sunk down beside one of the crates of parts.

"Cally? I know you're in here?" _'Frak, he found me' _I thought and pushed myself farther back into the shadows. My freedom from the smothering Sick Bay was at its end, even an hour free of it was good for me.

Apollo's footsteps were getting closer, I was certainly caught. "Cally! We've been looking everywhere for you! Gods you scared the frak out of some of the nurses!" Lee grabbed me under the armpits and hauled me to my feet, he came up from behind me.

I looked away guiltily, "I needed out," My throat was surprisingly dry and scratchy, I was gasping for breath. "I need to get you—" He was cut off as I saw a metallic flash and I pulled him to the ground as a gunshot sounded.

His eyes were the size of dinner plates as he looked at me. "We're even," I said simply and breathlessly. He drew his side arm and fired a shot back. I poked my head over a crate and gasped loudly. There was a toaster standing in the supply room barely a few yards from me. And it wasn't a human model.

That explained a lot, the agents being activated, the knots in the fuel lines.

"Cally keep down!" Another shot sounded and a dull metallic thud.

"Did you get him?" I asked softly

"Yeah, its down," Apollo replied quietly. I heard another thud and my only guess is that Apollo kicked the toaster.

"You alright?" He was suddenly at my side, helping me to my feet.

"Yeah, but I think I'm going to be.." I didn't even finish my sentence as my stomach empied itself of what little there was.

Apollo pulled my up and put my arm around his neck,

"Come on Cally, I have to take you to Commander." I didn't reply, the ground before me swaying a little, it was getting harder to draw a breath.

I was mostly relying on Apollo to help me get to the command room, I was dizzy and I couldn't see at all. "Almost there Cally," He muttered softly as we came to a door, he knocked twice.

A voice came over the box on the side asking for name and purpose and access code, I barely heard Apollo say who he was and his business. I was too tired.

"Captain Apollo?"

"Get me a chair ASAP"

I felt someone sit me down in a chair and take my head in their hands. "Cally?" It was Apollo. "Cally you awake?" I opened my eyes.

"What's the meaning of this?" Commander Tigh asked looking daggers at me. Apollo stood up. "There was a Cylon on deck F, not a humanoid, but a toaster model."

A murmur rose around the room and I heard Commander Adama ask for the president to be on the phone. I felt sick again and turned and threw up on the floor.

"Aww Frak, some get her to sick bay," I was close to passing out as someone pulled me to my feet again. "I'll take her," It always seemed to be Apollo!

I leaned heavily on him as he took me from the deck and down to the Sick Bay. I couldn't breathe at all.

"Sir?" I said between gasps.

"Cally, I'm off duty, it's Lee"

"Ok, Lee?"

"Yes Cally?"

"I can't breathe."

"Frak"

He picked up the pace incredibly and I slipped a little and slipped down to my knees. "Cally! Hold on there Cally, We're almost there!"

I blacked out.

When I woke up everything ached and I had an oxygen tube in my nose. I could feel some plastic tubing in my left side and my legs were strapped to the bed. I opened my eyes very slowly, learning that the lights were ALWAYS bright in the sick bay. There were more monitors around me than when I had escaped the Sick Bay.

"Cally?" I turned to my right and saw Chief sitting next to me in a chair. I smiled, too tired to speak. He stood over me, "Don't do that again or you'll, well I'll do something." I smiled. "Go back to sleep Cally, you need it." I nodded and closed my eyes.

Misunderstandings happen.

"Someone call social services, this doesn't look good!" One of the EMT said as they were going over my injuries. I tried to tell them not to, it was me, it was my fault I was like this. No one did anything to me. I tried to speak, but someone put an oxygen mask over my face.

It wasn't abuse. It was me being stupid or clumsy. The bruises in various stages of healing around my body were from a fight at school a few days before. The more fresh injuries were from just falling down the stairs, who said life was graceful? I sure wasn't at age 14. Too much stuff to carry down the stairs and BOOM! Walking home wasn't easy, people staring, vertigo, and nausea. And then I hit the ground again, this time from the spinning lights above my head.

I wan't very smart at that age, in 'dating' a 22-year-old man, one of my old friend's older brothers, the one of the only person who would talk to me besides my brothers. And we never really dated; it was more of a label to make me feel better.

An EMT was talking to me again, "Can you hear me?" I looked at him. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Cally Henderson," I said really quietly, the EMT smiled, "Alright Cally, we're going to get you to the hospital and away from whoever is hurting you."

I shook my head as much as I could in the neck brace, "No ones is hurting me," I barely could speak. The EMT raised his eyebrows, "It's alright, you don't have to hide it anymore, and you'll be fine."

I blinked a few times, no one had ever hurt me. Not my parents, not my brothers, not my sister, not my uncles or Aunts or Grandparents.

We arrived at the hospital and I was lost in a flurry of movement and questions, what happened, who I was, medical problems, I was so confused. Someone was saying something about staying awake for a few more minutes, something about my head. I closed my eyes, not wanting to stay awake. More yelling, more needles, more pain.

No one took me seriously that no one was hurting me, as I stayed in the hospital for a while recovering, no one wanted me to leave until I had a place to stay. I learned that my parents were arrested for a crime that they didn't commit. The social workers could be even more idiots than I was. They say that people slip through cracks in the system; well I discovered a crack, more of a reverse crack than anything.

I was bounced around foster homes, family members, and family friends for what seemed to me like an eternity, never seeing my older brothers for years, only staying with my older sister Jessica for a week. I pulled away from all contact with most humans and began to work at a local car shop for a few extra cubits. Soon I knew a car's engine inside out.

I was staying with one of my Dad's brothers when I got sick of being bounced around. I had found passion in dentistry somehow, volunteering at various clinics for more cubits.

I graduated secondary school in the middle of my class, then found no way to get into dental school. Except the fleet. My dad would be proud.

I met Prosna in Basic, and he and I bonded quickly, he saved me a few times from being screamed at by the superiors, yet I ended up getting yelled at for things that didn't even come close to what Prosna got me out of.

I then tried flight class, but flunked out early. I had no feel for the ships and not enough coordination. Then I found the mechanics.

By the time I was 19, I nearly knew a Mark VII Viper with my eyes closed, and I was working on the Raptors. All remaining contact with the girls I grew up with was lost, as I became a grease monkey.

I slowly reached out a little bit of contact to the other guys at the mechanics shop, and I soon became one of the guys that happened to have a girl's name. They were some of the only people that I could I could hang out with without being annoyed or doing something stupid and end up beating someone up, at least usually.

I was assigned to Galactica when I turned 20, about a year before the Cylons blew most of humanity to smithereens. By then, I could navigate the engine of a Viper with my eyes closed, and Chief kept me learning the other systems. Just before the ship was to retire, I was put back on land to help fix up some old Raptors and Vipers for show.

But the upside of the misunderstanding is that I would probably dead if it had not occurred, I heard that my parents died in the Holocaust, my brothers, Gods know where they are now, I just hope that they're alive or not in pain. But I guess I'll never know.

One of the reasons I had even agreed to going on the Astral Queen was in the small hope that maybe my parents were still alive, maybe in space with me. They weren't, which put me in a horrible mood. Causing the prisoner and I to butt heads.

My past haunts me often, I never know if I can leave it behind or if I should keep it in my mind at all times.

I wasn't getting much better. I would wake up in various stages of pain from just a 'That's annoying' to waking up in tears. When I was awake between doses of painkillers or when I wasn't in pain, Socinus spent all the time he could with me. He was helping work part of my shift.

Socinus kept me up to date about the happenings on the ship; in other words, he passed the gossip on to me. What else to do if I have to lie in bed all day?

I dreamed a lot, about Prosna, the past, basic training, attempts at flying. Fixing Vipers, just anything that went through my head. Even Cylons in tutus, now I don't know where that came from, but it drove me crazy to see a big metal robot in a fluffy dress.

A commotion in the corridor woke me one day, yelling, moans of pain, and yells of panic. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and peered through the small gap in the curtain. I gasped audibly when I saw someone I recognized to be a Pilot, burned terrible and bleeding. It was almost as if I was standing after the fire looking at Prosna's charred body.

I fought back a sob and pushed myself into more of a sitting position, ignoring the soft stabs of pain in my chest and stomach. I felt like I was still in the aftermath of the fire, Chief and I holding onto Prosna, losing a friend was never easy. I lost 85 of them that day.

I counted nearly 20 people coming into the Sick Bay, some dead, some screaming in pain. Many were one's I recognized as pilots. Tear tracks lined my cheeks as over half of the pilots brought in were covered in sheets.

Chief came into the sick bay at one point looking scared and sad. I called out softly to him.

"Cally, how are you feeling?"

I ignored him, "What's going on Chief?" my voice sounded strangely crackly and hoarse.

Galen shook his head, "Nothing Cally, go back to sleep."

He walked over to me quickly and leaned down.

"Don't tell me nothing happened, there are fraking pilots dying in the bay!"

Galen looked uncomfortable, "There was an accident…." He trailed off. I nodded. I was tired again. Galen rubbed my forehead quickly, "You go back to sleep," he saw my eyes drooping.

"No, tell me now…is Socinus alright?" I couldn't stand losing another friend. Chief nodded, "yes, he's alright." Someone called his name.

"I have to go Cally, go back to sleep," Galen walked away.

Too many pilots were lost that day.

It was my birthday tomorrow, my 22nd birthday. would have been legally aloud to drink on my own, with out a guardian or legal adult with me. But now on Galactica, there was no real drinking law, except chief told me that if came on duty drunk, my arse was his.

Spending my birthday in the apocalypse was bad enough, but in the sick bay during the apocalypse on my birthday? Now that was frakked up.

I was trying to convince the Doctor to let me out of the Sick Bay for a few hours to get to the funeral for the pilots that died. He wasn't budging unless I made a miraculous recovery and got the chest tube out of my side.

"You're still bleeding out in your chest too much for me to let you out of here for even a few minutes." He had said, I had the tube put in after I 'escaped' the bay for a few minutes; my moments of freedom had cost me, but not enough for me to feel remorse.

I wanted to go to the funeral, seeing the charred bodies made me feel like I was back right after the attack, Prosna's black and bloody corpse cradled in my arms, like he did for me when I took a hard fall off a Viper wing in basic. It was hard not to cry just thinking about him sometimes, even when the tears were all dried out.

I always hated rules when I was younger; my uncle thought that I would have a difficult time in the military, with my slight disagreements in rules. Yet I proved him wrong, he would be proud of me, I hope.

He was the sole reason that I got into the military; the man signing me up was skeptical at the fact that I was female. My uncle was in the Colonial Military for years, until he retired a year before I came to live with him. He showed his military ID, told the sergeant to call him, and we left. I got a call about a week later of a man reluctantly telling me that I was officially enlisted in the Colonial Military.

And guess where it got me? Dying in the sickbay of some unknown injury from Gods knows whom, and I'm still alive. Yippee, I feel the joy.

Socinus promised to stay with me, even though he told me he had taken a half an hour tongue lashing from Tyrol about supporting his shipmates.

"YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT YOUR SHIPMATES!" Socinus told me chief had yelled, Socinus replied with a sharp,

"I am, sir, I'm supporting Cally."

After that hearing what Soc had replied with, I was greatly surprised that Chief hadn't thrown him in the brig. Then again, Chief always has seemed to have a softer spot for me after Prosna died, and then even more after the Astral Queen. And it seemed to be getting softer with every day that I was in the Sickbay. I had the hanger's little sister position down, but I wanted to be treated like another one of the guys.

"Hey Cally, what's your first name?" Socinus was sitting next to my bed, trying to strike up a conversation, after our last one he found me snoozing.

I smiled softly, it still hurt too much to laugh, "It actually is Cally, didn't I ever tell you about that?" Soc shook his head.

"No, Pros tried to tell me about it, but a Viper came in and guess who had to fix it?" I smiled wider, trying to figure out where to begin in the strange and predictable story why everyone called me by my first name.

"Well, my last name is Henderson. And there was another Henderson on the deck that I stared out on, so everyone just got used to calling me Cally. The other guy, Andrew, and I were put on the Galactica at the same time, we were in basic with Prosna, and Tyrol called me Cally and it stuck."

Socinus laughed for what seemed like an eternity; finally as he quieted down I managed to hear, "Isn't that against regs?" I rolled my eyes.

"I think so, or at least against some Military code or another, when Colonial Tigh found out, he wasn't happy, insisted I be called by my last name. It didn't stick. Andrew di-" My voice cracked slightly as I though of Prosna dying, "He died in the same Fire as Prosna."

Even a flash of sadness flashed through Soc's eyes. He was our rook, Prosna and mine. Now only mine, Lords I missed that man. Pros was like my brother after I got taken away from my biological Brothers.

Steven was the oldest boy, then there was Eric, and then Tatum. All of us were extremely close; I miss them every day of my life.

"Cal? You okay?" I didn't realize that I had drifted off into the world that owned me after being taken away, the attack, and then Prosna dying.

I blinked. "Yeah, just…thinking."

Soc rubbed my hand, "You should sleep girl, I have duty in about 20 minutes any way."

"Come to think of it, I am a little tired…" My eyelids began to droop.

Socinus smiled as my eyes started so blink shut and my voice started to lower to a whisper. My eyes blinked shut and sleep started to take me, it was amazing that I was able to talk that long.

Before I drifted into the world of sleep, Socinus squeezed my hand and whispered, "Happy Birthday Cally."

I was dreaming,

_"This is supposed to be a Battlestar, not a Museum." Prosna._

_"I couldn't agree with you more."_

_Snippets from the first two days of Hell._

_"Let's get the old girl ready to roll and kick some Cylon ass." Chief after the attack,_

_"Yeah! Those Cylons are going for scrap metal!" Prosna again, despite the fear in my heart he made me laugh._

_Prosna, Burnt and Bloody, his blood mixed with my tears. The site if Prosna made my conscious self feel like vomiting._

_"Mourn the Dead later."_

_No one could bear to mourn later; 30 seconds seemed to pass as I cradled Prosna's head. Chief relieved me._

_"It's alright Cally." Chief as he held me to his chest during a short break after one of the FTL jumps. Tears streaming down my cheeks again, I needed one more comfort. Soc already had a completely wet jumpsuit. Mine was wet as well, from Soc, My own tears, and some of Chief's._

_All the other deckhand's tears were from fear or exhaustion. Too long to be awake._

_"Are they the lucky ones?" Commander Adama at the funeral. I was standing between Chief and Duella. Chief squeezed my hand as the Commander passed by Prosna's body._

_To the Hanger deck, Galen, Socinus's and my hands are all in an engine._

_"Ta da! There ya go chief." I put a tool into Galen's pocket._

_Soc laughs sleepily. Galen laughs nervously, "Must be nice being small." He goes back to work muttering about me being so small and I slip away onto the next Viper._

_"So Say We All."_

_Me putting my hands over my mouth and then embracing Duella._

_Me sitting down before the first jump, "Oh I hate this part!"_

"Cally!"

My eyes snapped open; Apollo was standing over me, smiling softly. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision a little. The Sick Bay's lights were so bright.

"Yeah?" I managed sleepily. My voice sounded pathetic, like when my brother Tatum would get up in the morning.

"Happy Birthday."

He was being so sweet, just like Prosna usually was, except for on my birthday. The last birthday was quite entertaining.

We were fixing Vipers; I was leaning over a wing adjusting one of the angles on it. Prosna snuck up behind me, grabbed my legs, and dangled me off the drop to the ground. It was a laughing matter for weeks, "Yeah don't do that Cally or you'll end up upside down WITHOUT someone holding onto your ankles!"

This year I hoped for something a little better. Instead I got a Cylon attack.

"How'd you know?" I rubbed a little more sleep from my eyes. Socinus was standing behind him with an innocent grin on his face. I'm going to have to get him back.

Apollo smiled, opening his mouth to say something else. The Loudspeaker interrupted him however.

"Captain Apollo report to CIC immediately, Repeat Captain Apollo report to CIC."

HE rolled his eyes, "Duty calls!" and he disappeared around the corner. I was alone with Socinus. Now where did I put that side arm?

Soc smiled sheepishly, "Oh, got to go Cally, ships need fixing."

Soc knew that I hated getting treat any other way than the rest of the guys, even if it WAS my birthday…

I awoke later to the sound of profanity only worthy of one person; Starbuck was in the Sickbay.

I pushed myself haphazardly into a sitting position, ignoring the slight twinge of pain. Lords it smelled horrible in here!

"Kara, hold still damn it! Doc needs to look at your leg!" Apollo was with her.

"Damn it stop poking me!"

"Needle's going in..."

"FRAK!"

"Did that hurt Kara? Oooo! The all mighty Starbuck is afraid of needles!"

A smack.

I couldn't help but smile, it was kind of cute. I was slightly jealous.

"Damn Kara! Now I know why the XO had such a huge bruise a few weeks ago!"

Even the doctor laughed.

The drugs in my system slowly lulled me back to sleep, me thinking that the Gods were listening to me. I actually had someone to talk to now.

I missed work on the Vipers. Prosna, Socinus and I had been working on a Mark II Viper for so long before the attack, I missed my hands getting in the greasy engine. I missed the purring of the engines when we got them working just right, I even missed the loud banging of the panels, well almost.

I felt that I was born just to work on those Birds; some people just were born to be mechanics.

Boredom was something that I couldn't get away from, I never had anything to do, save for staring at the ceiling, talking with the sparse visitors, and sleeping.

The prospect of actually dying hit me hard one day, I had never really thought about dying. Sure I had seriously considered it when I was younger, but dying from an accident when there were less than 50,000 people LEFT scared me.

I sat pondering what happens when we die when the ship rocked beneath my bed. I quickly sat up and groaned slightly. The med Techs and other patients all had the same look that echoed in my own mind; "What the frak?"

Alarms sounded around the Sick bay and confusion became worse. What was going on? Were the Cylons coming to finish us off?

One of the med techs pushed me down onto my bed again. I was afraid as the med room phone rang. Maybe one of the Viper's exploded on the deck, what if Chief and Socinus were laying there dying? Burning? Like Prosna. Just like Prosna.

I blinked a few times, trying not to get the image into my mind of Prosna's face…I failed.

"_Attention, All hatches closing" The metallic voice sounded over the roar of the fires. Prosna's had me by the scruff of the neck, "Cally, get the Frak out of here!"_

_I shook my head violently, "Not without you!" I had to scream to get over the noise of the screams and the fire_.

_"No!" He pushed me towards an exit; "Get the Hell out of here!"_

_Tears flushed into my eyes, blurring my vision, "Pros! Alex!" I reached out my hand to get him, I could almost reach him. Our fingers grazed each other the grinding of the closing doors startled me._

"_Cally!" Socinus grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to the exit._

"_Prosna! Prosna! No!" I was crying, I could hear Socinus's sobs as well. The hatch sealed in front of me as hopelessness dawned. He was gone._

"Shhh, don't cry honey, it'll be alright, I know, I know, we've all lost so much, let it come out."

One of the older med techs was holding me to her chest, I wasn't even aware that I had been yelling, but my throat was slightly scratchy.

Try as I might, I couldn't stop it, the tears broke the fragile dam in my chest and I began to painfully sob.

Salty tear tracks formed on my face as the last few weeks fell through the hardened exterior I had to dawn to work with men.

The attack, Prosna dying, the water deprivation, 17 hour shifts, constantly working on Raptors, the Astral Queen, Apollo, the fuel lines, everything burst through.

As the convulsive sobs passed, the med tech leaned me back down onto my bed as I painfully hiccupped and gasped for air. It was harder to breathe, like something was constricting my airways, or like my ribs were broken.

"Sorry" I whispered, sounding strangled.

The med tech wiped her eyes, "No problem, I needed a good cry as well."

Her eyes too were red with tears; salty tear tracks down her face.

She leaned down and placed a plastic mask on my face. I smiled as I was able to breathe easier.

The alarms still sounded everywhere, but I felt strangely numb, and unimportant in what was going on. I heard as though in the distance. "Bombing, we don't know how many hurt, move anyone not critical to the back, we need as much room as we can get."

"Where was it?"

"C causeway, at least 1 dead so far."

Relief spread through my body, no one from the deck could have been there, most were safe. The relief was calming as I drifted back to sleep, trying not to think about the burning and charred flesh. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was Starbuck yelling;

"What the frak is going on?"

"Cally, wake up!" I blinked a few times, and then sarcastically cried out.

"Soc! You scared me!" I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and Soc helped me sit up.

One of the techs, Jammer, was sitting behind Socinus in a chair. I waved slightly drunkenly.

Jammer laughed, "Looks like she got into our home-made brew that we were making when chief caught us." Socinus laughed with him, I just smiled.

"What happened Soc?"

Soc looked nervous and sad at the same time. He shifted his glance over to one of the burnt patients on the other side of the Lab.

"They're trying to pin this on Chief, the explosion. They said it was a Cylon agent. They look like us now."

He said it with such difficulty that I thought he was close to tears.

I blinked quickly, "So they think that there could be Cylons on the Galactica?"

Jammer nodded, "It's every man for himself now."

I jumped on him faster than he could blink, "That's what the Cylons want us to do! Turn on each other!"

Silence.

"She's right Jammer," Socinus whispered to the tech. "We can't all turn on each other, we have to rely on Baltar to get us that detector."

Our visit was cut short as sergeant Hadiran stepped into the bay, "Crewman specialist Socinus? Your time in front of the tribunal has come."

Soc took a deep breath and stood up, saluting the sergeant.

I waved weakly, feeling afraid for him somehow, like I wouldn't see him for awhile.

I was right.

My Socinus is gone. Arrested, a prisoner. Stripped of his rank, thrown in the brig, 30 days. It's only been 18 days since the Cylon attack, 8 days since the Astral Queen, And 3 day's since I ended up in sickbay.

The longest 20 days of my life, it feels like a lifetime since I was back on Caprica, or Troy, even longer since Picon.

Chief sits beside my bed as tears stream silently down my face. "He'll be back Cally, don't cry, you can visit him!"

Nothing will make me feel better. Chief is as angry as I am, "I even went to Adama to clear it up, I should be in the brig instead of him, it's my fault."

I put my hand on his arm, " No it's not, Soc is an idiot, He was protecting you, and we need you Galen."

He smiled, "It's over with Boomer, for good." I looked at him in shock, trying to sit up faster than I should've. "Ouch-"

"Cally don't do that"

"Anyways," Galen helped me sit up, "Why stop with Boomer? You two really love each other!"

The argument started again, going back and forth, 'But you Love her' 'it's against Regs' 'but you wont get caught'

"Cally stop it. It's over!" Galen stood up, "Now Socinus is in the brig and I can't do a fraking thing about it!" He was crying. I reached up and grabbed his hand, ignoring the stab of pain in my chest.

"Get some sleep Cally," Galen stood up, kissed my forehead, and left the bay, wiping he tears. I sighed. The end of the world was not a fun place.

---

Nightmares constantly Plague me. Nightmares of Cylons, attacks, my family, Prosna, chief, they were all dying, and I couldn't do anything.

This night the Astral Queen incident was burned into my dreams. It was more of a memory of the events that occurred.

"_Get up!"_

_"Hey what's going on hey!"_

My Dream jumped ahead to Mason and I are in the Cell.

_He locked the cell behind us. I looked around for an exit from my literal Prison. _

"_Leave, I need to teach this one a lesson," He dismissed the convicts around us._

_He had me cornered, not a good thing. The gun was still in his hand. Fear lanced through me. Even my dream self could remember the terrible spike in fear. It was white hot, ice cold, and neutral all at the same time._

_"So Cally, its time to learn a lesson." He spits._

_More fear. He had my shoulders, my eyes bulge, so much for being a tough girl. Pushing me back into the mattress, his eyes hungry, roaming my body. He pushes. I'm down on the mattress on my back, scrambling to get away. "You will NOT have that you fraking bastard!" I screamed at him. He hit me, hard. My head snaps to the side and he takes advantage of my distraction and is on top of me faster than I could say 'frak'._

_My hands are somehow under my body, trapping me. Seconds pass as a ripping noise sounds and I feel a draft on my arm. "Frak" he mutters, pushing the arm back up to my shoulder. Another rip, my jacket is open, he's going for under my tanks. He never gets there._

_My knee finds his soft spot. He falls back with a grunt. "Bitch," he curses. I use the moment to push myself up into a sitting position. "Bastard! Get away from me!" I try and roll, but he's too fast. He on me with the gun pressed hard into my abdomen, so hard it's bruising. No doubt. I do the only thing I can think of, I scream._

_"Don't, push me little girl." I push him in the shoulders just to piss him off. The gun goes off. I cry out as the bullet slams into my abdomen. I fall back onto the mattress and he's back on me again, "Now where _was_ I?" He whispers in my ear. I lean forward and bite hard, the ear comes off in my mouth, bloody running into my mouth, now it's his turn to scream my hands on my stomach. In comes Apollo. I spit out the ear "Frak You!"_

_It's skipped ahead again. "Medic!" Apollo. "Cally, hey Cally, how ya doing?"_

_My eyes are so wide and my breathing so rapid I can't answer. "I'm gonna get you out of here Cally, you're gonna be ok." I'm nodding with him. Fear still running in my veins _

"_Cally don't go to sleep…"_

_Dream blackness._

_I blink and there I am, someone pressing on my chest to stop the bleeding, someone trying to get me awake. "Cally, Specialist" It's Starbuck_

_Then the Raptor. "I know, keep that oxygen mask on her, keep her breathing!"_

_Then Doc Cottle pressing on my belly and taking scissor and taking the Tank off. _

_Then the anesthetic mask. And the final memory before the major drugs wore off was Doc Cottle and Apollo leaning over me._

I thought I was still dreaming as my eyes fluttered open and Doc Cottle and Apollo were standing over me.

"Hey Cally, how you feeling kid?" I smiled a little, "A little better. I was having a nightmare, thanks for waking me up."

"Anytime Kid, anytime."

His knee-melting smile. "You were saying things like "Frak you" in your sleep…" Apollo snorted slightly. My eyes shifted toward him, then back at the Doctor.

"I'm going to give you a slight sedative, it will help you sleep."

He administered the medicine and within minutes I was fast asleep, thinking about the first time my slight crush on Apollo blossomed slightly.

---

Over the next two days I began to improve. The third day, they took me of oxygen, for only an hour at a time, then for good. The next day my chest tube came out. For four days I improved, and I was about to be discharged. Chief was visiting me and telling me all about the hangar deck.

I rubbed my chest a little. It was hurting a lot. I didn't tell the Doctor because I wanted out!

"Cal you alright?"

I jumped, "Yeah yeah, fine, I just hurt a little." No it hurt A LOT.

A few minutes passed, the pain was getting worse, "Cally, Cally, you don't look so good!" I suddenly couldn't breathe.

"Chief!" I gasped out, rolling onto my side trying to get more air in. It was so sudden, so out of nowhere. I was shocked.

"Doc! Doc Cottle!" Chief was frantic, and I was dissolved in a flurry of movement and conversations. Oxygen mask on my face, heart monitor pads back on.

"Her heart is racing! Blood ox level at 94, Pulse 98."

"Frak, someone get the scanner ready! And tube her."

Darkness spotted around my vision as my bed moved under me. I was dizzy, nauseous and couldn't breathe.

My eyes fluttered shut as someone started yelling something about a trach tube and the black engulfed me.

My arm twitched and I snapped awake. I was in a recovery room, ventilator in my mouth, the blended sound of a heart monitor bleeping in the background. I looked around a little; everything was numb, except for the dull pain in my abdomen and chest.

The doctor came over to me; I could see his mouth moving as he injected something into a port on my IV. Before I knew it, I was asleep again.

"How is she?"

"Better, we got her breathing on her own now, the swelling in her chest has gone down, I'd say she's now on the REAL road to recovery."

_Shut up I'm trying to sleep _

"So what was wrong?"

It was Galen and the Doctor, talking.

"There was a blood clot in her lung, and a sore about the size of her thumb, the test came back positive for bacterial infection. Probable cause is the fumes; all of the ships will need to be tested, as well as all of the persons that came in contact with the ships for the bacteria. But to be on the safe side, all personnel with access to the hangar bay will be treated with a mild one dose antibiotic, we can't afford to lose another."

"What about Cally?"

"She's going to be on heavy antibiotics."

"She'll be ok right?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? My psychic license was revoked."

Fading footsteps, and then some coming towards me.

"Hey Cally, how are ya?"

_Trying to sleep now go away Chief. _

I must've swatted at him, because I heard him grunt and felt a separating pain in my chest.

My eyes snapped open, only to snap back closed at the brightness of the light.

"Nooo! Steven come back!"

And blackness was back.

"Cally? Open your eyes for me, it's time to wake up."

I couldn't help but crack my eyes open. Someone was leaning over me, two fingers on my neck taking a pulse, and blocking the light.

I was still in a secluded section of the bay, connected to a few monitors, oxygen tube in my nose, IV in my hand.

"What?" I quietly croaked, the medic leaned back a bit, I knew her, it was Ishay.

"You remember what happened?" She asked casually as she listened to my heartbeat, and reset my blood pressure cuff.

"Couldn't breathe," I said turning m head away from her, resting heavier on my pillow.

"Yep, we went in for 2 surgeries, one to see what the frak was going on, and the other to remove a bacterial sore and a small blood clot on your lung."

I gave her a halfhearted drowsy thumbs up, "Sounds like fun."

Selix laughed a little, "Yeah fun, Kim over there nearly passed out from excitement."

I smiled, "Chief here?"

"I'll go get him."

"Alright."

A few minutes passed, I was beginning to be more aware, and slightly less aware at the same time.

"Hey Cally, you're awake."

Chief!

"Galen, get me outta here?" I weakly grabbed at him, turning to look into his caring brown eyes.

"Nah, not today Specialist Lazy, you still have some laying around to do," he stroked my cheek and I closed my eyes.

Improvement continued as I drifted in and out of consciousness for what seemed like and eternity for me. Every time I woke up, expecting to see Socinus there, smiling and telling me about the hangar deck, he wasn't there. I missed him.

The Old Man even came to see me one day, I only remember it cos it was the day that they got me to sit up. Painful, it was very painful.

"Alright Cally, I'm going to check that incision and then see if we can get you walking here."

I personally liked Dr. Salik more than Doc Cottle, less evil comments and less smoke.

The doctor lifted my gown up above my sternum, still covering my breasts. The bandage covering the center of my abdomen stretching from my belly button to 2 inches above my solar plexus. The bandage came off, the cotton packed into the wound came out and I lost the contents of my stomach. The wound was barely stitched up; save for the first layer of skin from the wound, I could have described it as looking like two raw fish steaks along by stomach.

And now there was a mess to clean up. Needless to say we never got that first walk in that day, that was one day later when my wound was closed up the rest of the day.

"Now we're REALLY getting you walking today," I was sitting up in a chair, and Galen reached down and took my arm just below my elbow and slowly pulled me up to a standing position. I leaned on him and the IV pole for support.

"Hey Chief," I asked as we went for our second lap around the level, "How long have I been in sick bay?"

"Let's see, you got in here 7 days ago, 3 day's since your surgery," he sighed, "Too long to be away from the hangar bay if you ask me Cal."

I smiled at him, "Doc said I could be outta here in a few days, I'd be on light duty, but that's all I was on before I got in here, I was only 4 days out from The Astral Queen, man do I ever get a break…ow" I added as I stumbled a little, Chief held me up more while I recovered.

"Well here's you stop Cal., I'll come back later after my shift." I smiled at Chief as he helped me into the bed. "Thanks Chief, I'll be back on the hangar bay in no time."

I let my exhausted body finally sink into my own rack. My OWN rack. I was released from the sick bay half of an hour earlier, after 9 days in there. I was free from it, but I also had to go back every nigh for a check-up and some antibiotics.

One thought flashed through my mind; Home.

The Hangar Bay, the Home that I had missed for so long. Even though I was on light duty, I could still get my hands in an enjoining.

The fuel Crisis had the majority of the ships decked, the few that were still able and authorized to fly were 2 Raptors searching surrounding solar systems, Boomer and Crashdown had just arrived.

And cue Ensign Davis.

"Hey Crash, did you find anything."

I held back a snigger as I saw Boomer have to leave the area to refrain from bursting into hysterical laughter.

"Cally! Can you help me with this electrical system?" Chief called to me from halfway across the hangar Bay.

I stood up as fast as I could, grabbing my abdomen slightly as I stood. "Cally you alright?" Crash asked.

"Yeah I'm fine Crash!" I fought back another laugh and walked over to where Chief was.

"Don't push yourself Cally, I don't want you in Sick Bay again,"

I sighed. "Chief I couldn't push myself even if I wouldn't have to back to sick bay."

It was true; I didn't want to go back to sickbay, or even anywhere near there. I had avoided the deck for the past few days since I had been put back on light duty.

I sat on one of the ladders and chief handed me a battery to rewire. He had trouble telling the colors, a lot of the guys did. So I was always stuck with the color-coded wires. Fun fun.

"Alright last stitch here..."

"OW! Doc…"

"Hold still specialist!"

"Sorry Doc," I sighed and leaned farther into the table. The 4 last stitches from my belly came out.

"Alright there you go, you're back on full duty next shift, now get out of my bay." I slid of the table and smiled, I could finally give all I had towards the Vipers.

Some of the guys, Jammer, Apollo, Hotdog, Hammerhead, and Fireball, had a game of Pyramid going in the hallway leading to the Mess.

"Hey Cally!" Hot Dog called to me as I tried to wriggle past.

"Hey what?" I asked breathlessly, sucking in my stomach to get behind the makeshift goal.

"We're uneven, you well enough to play now?" I thought for a moment, but before I could even open my mouth Apollo had an answer out,

"I don't think it'd be too good of an Idea to do that Constanza."

Jammer interrupted him, "I bet Cally wont wanna play with the Big Boys now…"

"Ok I'll play, Doc just told me I'm on full duty next shift," I stuck my tongue out childishly at Jammer and slipped off my jacket like the rest of the guys. I had to admit, Lee Adama looked mighty nice in just his tanks.

I could move astonishingly well, considering what I had gone through only a few days before, Chief said that my muscles were very torn up.

I couldn't tackle, and the guy's seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement not to take me down, but it didn't mean that I didn't trip Jammer a few times.

"Cally! Catch!" I put my hands up as Hot Dog's throw came toward me; it skipped over my fingers and came into the awaiting hands just above mine that belonged to Apollo.

I turned quickly, as to steal the ball, but stumbled and ran headlong into the very attractive CAG.

We started to fall; the ball hit the ground and bounced away. I yelled out, throwing my hands in front of me waiting to feel the jarring pain of impact with the ground. It never came, only a mild twinge in my abdomen and an "oomph"

I had landed on top of Apollo. Oh Boy, and staring RIGHT into his blue eyes. The mild surprises in his eyes instantly turned to panic as I let out a soft exhale of breath. I felt a soft blush creep into my face as his hands shifted to just above my hips to try and get me up.

"Frak! Cally!" Someone grabbed me under my armpits and hauled me up, Jammer in front of my instantly.

"Cally a-are you alright?"

"Yeah fine, now let me up, that ball is still over there."

Everyone sighed in relief.

"Good!" Apollo said, standing up, "I don't want you back in sickbay."

He said HE wouldn't not WE wouldn't…

He extended a hand. My slight blush deepened.

'Oh Gods I'm attracted to my superior officer'

"Good Hunting Sir, be careful," I put Apollo's helmet on and smacked his Viper. He smiled and I felt my knee's melt.

"Clear for launch Chief!"

I sighed as Apollo's Viper shot out for what could be the last time. The last two days had passed in a blur, I tried to avoid Apollo as much as I could, and then the fuel was found. Now I was scared to death to lose him.

All the deckhands sat around a single Radio, listening to the Viper Pilots get cut to pieces. I counted them off on my fingers, Fireball, Deadbolt.

"The back Door is open."

And then I started to pray; Apollo's team was being deployed.

Then Chuckles, Stepchild, Kat was wounded.

Hot Dog yelled something over the com.

"The conveyor tunnel's clear, I'm going through it."

I jumped and grabbed the nearest sleeve, which happened to be Jammer's. "Cally…"

"You're out of your fraking mind, Apollo."

Yes he is.

Everything froze for me as screams echoed from the radio.

"Mission, accomplished."

Silence, then a Cheer that started from Jammer and ended with me.

"Yeah! We're not gonna die!"

Everyone within vocal range of Jammer stopped to stare at him, and then promptly burst out laughing.

Moments later his Viper landed, and my spirit was momentarily crushed. Starbuck just barely beat me to him. I came up with a Bottle of Ambrosia and to my complete surprise, hugged him tight. He hugged back, blinking slightly in surprise, and then continued his conversation with Starbuck. Then my spirit really was crushed, I couldn't even laugh at Crashdown and Ensign Davis.

I just told Chief I was tired and went to my rack. I closed my eyes and fell asleep without shedding any tears, much to my surprise.

9 days passed with me avoiding Apollo, I tried to get opposite shifts of him everyday, meaning that I worked all through the night. I didn't even sleep very well, and I didn't even know why, maybe because of the gallon of coffee I consumed everyday, or maybe because every time I closed my eyes, I could see the concerned look in Apollo's eyes.

"Cally!" I jumped, banging my head on the underbelly of the viper I was working on.

"OUCH! Yeah Chief?"

Chief chuckled, "You want to go to the Colonial Day celebration? I'm giving whoever wants to go the shift off. The Military party is on Cloud Nine."

I slid out from the viper quickly, "Really? Isn't that tomorrow night?"

Chief nodded, "Yeah, I thought I'd give you and Socinus sometime to bond. He's getting out tomorrow morning you know!

I hopped up quickly and hugged chief, throwing him off guard; I never really showed affection when on the hangar deck, for all of the guys expected me to be tougher.

I heard him mutter something that sounded very much like "Children," as I ducked under the Wing.

The next morning dawned very early for me; I was so excited to see Socinus. I hadn't been able to visit him very much in the past month, regulations can be a bitch.

I sat on the wing of a viper and checked every few seconds for Socinus and Chief. They did come only when I got down to work. I gave Socinus such a tight hug; I bet he thought he couldn't breathe.

Then I smacked him, "You fraking Idiot! Chief told me what you did!" Then I lowered my voice to a whisper, "And I would've done the same thing."

He laughed, I laughed a bit, and then started bawling. The last few weeks catching up with me. I didn't care that I was on a deck with mostly guys; I didn't care that I would be a laughing stock for a few weeks. Socinus wrapped his arms around me. I sobbed.

As the wracking sobs finally subsided, I wiped my eyes on Socinus's offered sleeve, sniffling.

"Ok I'm good now…" Socinus chuckled, "Good, cos we need to get back to work." I smiled.

"I'm glad your back Socinus, I missed you."

And For the moment, life was good.

"... Laura Roslin and the tough decisions that she has to make every day. Especially if you're someone like Tom Zarek, who's never shouldered any real responsibility, in your life. To be fair to Tom, how could he? He's been in prison for the last 20 years. Um, now he's had a drastic personality makeover. He's posing like he is the savoir to all your ills. I think you all have a short memory, really... What I have to say is, we-- we must survive, and we will survive. And we will do so through the values that have made our colonies great. Courage, truth, justice, liberty. With the firm and deep resolve to make tomorrow better. Not just for ourselves, but for our children."

Everyone Around the Hangar Bay clapped.

"That man will be the next President," Socinus said as we listened to Baltar on the Wireless.

I nodded in agreement.

We were just relaxing on the Hangar Bay, waiting until we could go over to Cloud Nine. Jammer was streached out by a Raptor, most likely sleeping; some of the pilots were in random places around the Bay just, as they put it, "chilling".

The day passed at a slow crawl, a much-needed luxury from the usual frantic scramble. But time does eventually pass.

And we boarded the shuttle to cloud nine. I sat with Socinus and Jammer, wearing a navy blue dress and just left my hair down. I thought it was time to have some fun.

"Cal, you been on Cloud Nine yet?"

"Nah, been spending all my time on Hangar Bay and sick bay."

"Yeah Same here."

Socinus and I turned to look at Jammer, "The Hangar Bay part I mean…"

Ahhh Comic Relief.

The night passed, I had a few Ambrosias, a stoogie, and some other strange things.

Then I looked up, and Apollo was standing there, with Starbuck. Starbuck, the almighty Pilot, was wearing a dress.

I, like nearly every woman on the ship, envied Starbuck. She was everything, a Crack shot, a brilliant Viper Pilot, and had a dead sexy admirer.

Me, on the other hand, had a hangar bay.

And Jammer, can't forget Jammer.

I sunk down against a wall, secluding myself from the party. I didn't even understand why I felt like my heart had been ripped out and stomped on. I barely knew the man, and he was so rude to chief when he arrived!

I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't even see him approach.

"Cally?"

I jumped, looking up, "Hello sir, enjoying yourself?"

He made a face, "You could say that, I just saw one of my best friends in a dress." He slid down beside me.

"Yeah I saw her too, sort of strange seeing her in a dress," I sighed.

"What's troubling you Cally?" He gave me his knee-melting smile, filled with sympathy and warmth.

"Nothing really," I broke off, "OK a lot is bothering me."

I sighed, Apollo patted my hand, smiling. "Tell uncle Apollo ALL about it,"

I started with Prosna dying, which he knew about, then ended with telling him about feeling so strangely crushed. I thought that if I didn't tell him, I probably would have burst.

"And every time I think about it, I'm afraid that if we do do anything, we'll end up like Boomer and Chief," I took a breath. Apollo stood up, sighing heavily.

"Yes, I thought I saw that in you, and felt it in your hug. But it's not a good idea. It's against Regs Cally."

I sighed again, "Thanks for talking to me Sir, it helped a lot." I stood up.

"I'm not done Specialist," Apollo stood up with me, "I didn't mean for it to seem like I don't want anything to happen. But part of me does, and the other slightly rational part does. I do not want you in hot water with my father."

I nodded, "Yes sir." He grabbed my arm as I tried to walk away, "Don't walk away," He hugged me, and kissed the top of my head.

A blush crept into my cheeks.

"It's not that I don't like you Cally, I had a younger brother that you remind me of in some ways, and I like that. We can't have a relationship in this lifetime, but in the next. When we reach earth. Then maybe."

I smiled, looking up more at him. And then laughed at the thought of him referring to me as his brother, if we ever DID court or date or WHATEVER, it could mean it was like dating his brother.

As I relayed my thought to him he laughed too.

"Hey Cally, wanna dance?" Socinus called then stopped as he got a closer look, "Oh, sorry, I'll just-"

"No, sure I'd like to dance Soc."

I smiled back at Apollo and went to dance with Socinus. And life, again temporarily, was good.

* * *

Well its redone! YAY!!! Enjoy reading!!!! 


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